12 The hired man, since he is not the shepherd and the sheep do not belong to him, abandons the sheep as soon as he sees a wolf coming, and runs away, and then the wolf attacks and scatters the sheep; 13 he runs away because he is only a hired man and has no concern for the sheep.
14 I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for my sheep”. (John 10)
Jesus cares for those who belong to his flock. You are precious to him. He doesn’t want to lose you.
25th Sunday of Ordinary Time C
Amos 8:4-7, Psalm 112: 1-2, 4-8, Rv. 1.7, 1 Tim 2:1-8,
Listen, you who trample on the needy: never will I forget a thing you have done.
From the dung heap God raises the poor to set him with the princes of his people.
God wants everyone to be saved and reach full knowledge of the truth.
I know what I will do to make sure there will be some to welcome me.
Luke 16: 1-13.
1 He also said to his disciples, 'There was a rich man and he had a steward who was denounced to him for being wasteful with his property. 2 He called for the man and said, "What is this I hear about you? Draw me up an account of your stewardship because you are not to be my steward any longer." 3 Then the steward said to himself, "Now that my master is taking the stewardship from me, what am I to do? Dig? I am not strong enough. Go begging? I should be too ashamed. 4 Ah, I know what I will do to make sure that when I am dismissed from office there will be some to welcome me into their homes." 5 'Then he called his master's debtors one by one. To the first he said, "How much do you owe my master?" 6 "One hundred measures of oil," he said. The steward said, "Here, take your bond; sit down and quickly write fifty." 7 To another he said, "And you, sir, how much do you owe?" "One hundred measures of wheat," he said. The steward said, "Here, take your bond and write eighty." 8 'The master praised the dishonest steward for his astuteness. For the children of this world are more astute in dealing with their own kind than are the children of light.' 9 'And so I tell you this: use money, tainted as it is, to win you friends, and thus make sure that when it fails you, they will welcome you into eternal dwellings. 10 Anyone who is trustworthy in little things is trustworthy in great; anyone who is dishonest in little things is dishonest in great. 11 If then you are not trustworthy with money, that tainted thing, who will trust you with genuine riches? 12 And if you are not trustworthy with what is not yours, who will give you what is your very own? 13 'No servant can be the slave of two masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or be attached to the first and despise the second. You cannot be the slave both of God and of money.'
Do you grasp sand?
We humans are strange creatures. Previously, in the coronation of a Pope at one point flax was burnt before his eyes. He was then warned: thus passes the glory of the world. We all know it but do we feel it? Many work, as if wealth, power, and prestige will last for ever. Jesus gives us the example of a man of this world. He will lose his job and now while he still has it, he is busy making sure that when he loses it he will survive. Whether what the steward does is just or not is irrelevant. The point Jesus is making is that the steward was smart and industrious in looking to his own interests. Believers should be as astute in looking to their eternal interests. We know that one day we will lose our life in this world. Jesus says, believers are not as active in seeing to their eternal welfare as people of this world are in seeing to their fortunes here.
What we have in our hands now is money etc. One day it will go. Jesus tells us to use it so that we will earn eternal dividends. The most dangerous thing we can do is to store up money and possessions which we do not need. Jesus doesn’t tell us to live in penury but that what we do not need for a reasonable life should be used for the good of others. They will remember us with blessings. God who fills the hungry with good things will also remember us with his blessing.
God has given the earth and its fruits to everyone. No one is entitled to have more than he or she needs while others are deprived. God demands that we share.
What pleases Him more than anything is generosity to those in need. The wise person is the one who is generous and lends: ‘the righteous lends and gives, and his children are blessed. The whole day he succeeds” (Ps.37:26). “He who is kind to the poor, lends to the Lord, and he will reward him for what he has done” (Prov. 19:17).”I was hungry and you gave me to eat”. Jesus tells us to use wealth not just for ourselves but for the good of others. The Fathers of the Church tell us: what we do not need belongs to the poor.
The wealth of this world is not really our own. We are going to lose it. The wealth of the Kingdom will always be in our hands. We earn it by using this transitory wealth in the way that pleases God. That is by sharing.
Are you generous to the poor? Do you think of them as your own? Or do you try to serve God and wealth?
Father, give me a generous heart so that I may share my wealth with those in need.
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